One downside of living in North Plainfield is that it can take a long time to commute to work. In North Plainfield, the average commute to work is 31.88 minutes, which is quite a bit higher than the national average. On the other hand, local public transit is widely used in the borough, so leaving the car at home and taking transit is often a viable alternative.
Although the majority of commuting trips in the borough are by private automobile, North Plainfield is somewhat unusual for a borough of its size for having a substantial number of people who use public transportation. For a lot of people, the train helps to get to and from their jobs every morning, which benefits everyone in the North Plainfield area by reducing both traffic and air pollution.
The education level of North Plainfield citizens is substantially higher than the typical US community, as 29.38% of adults in North Plainfield have at least a bachelor's degree.
The per capita income in North Plainfield in 2022 was $35,195, which is low income relative to New Jersey, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $140,780 for a family of four. However, North Plainfield contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
North Plainfield is an extremely ethnically-diverse borough. The people who call North Plainfield home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. People of Hispanic or Latino origin are the most prevalent group in North Plainfield, accounting for 48.23% of the borough’s residents (people of Hispanic or Latino origin can be of any race). The greatest number of North Plainfield residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in North Plainfield include Italian, Irish, German, African, and Jamaican.
Foreign born people are also an important part of North Plainfield's cultural character, accounting for 40.48% of the borough’s population.
The most common language spoken in North Plainfield is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and French.
